BBC 3/16/04: Sumatran tiger is doomed unless the trade in its body parts is stopped and its habitats saved

[Guest guest]

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>BBC DAILY E-MAIL: UK EDITION

>Tuesday, 16 March, 2004, 9:00 GMT 01:00 -08:00:US/Pacific

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> * Hunters 'threaten Sumatran tiger' *

>Indonesia's last species of tiger - the Sumatran

>tiger - is imperilled by a systematic programme

>of killing, conservationists warn.

>Full story:

>http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/3514072.stm

>

Hunters 'threaten Sumatran tiger'

Indonesia's last sub-species of tiger - the

Sumatran - is doomed unless the trade in its body

parts is stopped and its habitats saved,

campaigners warn.

 

One estimate suggests there may be only 400-500 of the tigers left in the wild.

 

A new report says demand for medicinal

ingredients, trophies, charms and souvenirs in

Asia is driving a systematic programme of killing

by hunters.

 

The concern is raised by Traffic, the wildlife

monitoring network, and WWF, the global

conservation organisation.

 

Traffic's undercover investigators found what

they described as a substantial domestic

Indonesian market for tiger parts.

 

The investigators found animal products in 17 of

the 24 towns they visited. About 20% of 453 shops

they went to had body parts on sale, mostly teeth

and claws. Much of this trade is done in the

open, says Traffic, even though it is illegal.

 

'First step'

 

The campaign groups argue this trade is

unsustainable. They claim there is evidence to

show that at least 50 Sumatran tigers have been

poached per year between 1998 and 2002.

 

" It is a catastrophic level of poaching, " Stuart

Chapman, from WWF, told the BBC.

 

" The population simply can't sustain this level

of killing. There is no chance of this population

being re-populated from somewhere else - it is an

island population. The prognosis is not good. "

 

" Increased and improved enforcement is the only

thing that is going to save the Sumatran tigers, "

said Chris Shepherd, a co-author of the

Traffic-WWF report.

 

" As a first step, action should be taken against

the markets, trade hubs and retail outlets

highlighted in the report, especially in northern

Sumatra. More specialised anti-poaching units

also need to be established urgently. "

 

The report, called Nowhere To Hide: The Trade In

Sumatran Tigers, also shows how the trade in

Sumatran tiger parts extends to South Korea,

Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and China.

 

Company plan

 

The Sumatran tiger is listed as Critically

Endangered, the highest category of threat. The

fear is that it will go the same way as two other

tiger subspecies, the Bali and Javan tigers,

which became extinct in the 1930s and 1980s

respectively.

 

Loss of forest habitat is another major threat to

the Sumatran tiger. The remaining animals are

being pushed back by logging companies which

exploit Indonesia's lowland rainforests to supply

the world with paper pulp.

 

Traffic and WWF want the paper companies to agree

to a moratorium on their logging operations in

natural forest, some of which is prime tiger

habitat, until the conservation value of the

forests can be assessed.

 

The Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) company, one of the

biggest in the region, said it " deplored the

killing of any endangered species " and claimed it

had set aside 77,000 hectares (190,200 acres) of

land for conservation in Sumatra.

 

APP says it has a plan in place to make its

activities fully sustainable in 2007 and has

accused WWF of being " extreme " in its dealings

with the company.

 

Loss of habitat has also been blamed for bringing

villagers into conflict with the animals. Eight

people have been mauled to death by tigers in

Sumatra since August 2002.

 

" The Sumatran tiger is one of those iconic

species, " said Sarah Christie, a tiger expert

with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

 

" If we save it we pass the test because in

protecting its habitat we will save so many other

species from extinction as well. "

 

Christie is a member of the Jambi tiger project -

a partnership of the ZSL, an oil palm company, PT

Asiatic Persada, and the Indonesian Government -

which is tagging the Sumatran tigers with radio

collars to learn more about their conservation

needs.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/3514072.stm

 

Published: 2004/03/16 02:49:12 GMT

 

© BBC MMIV

 

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